At least once a week I see something amazing at Rice. This week got off to a fast start when I went to visit a colleague in his office after lunch today. The first thing I noticed was a Class of 1969 beanie hanging on the wall, which got me up out of my chair. As I poked around I saw several other interesting things but my eye was really caught just as I sat back down by what appeared to be a picture of a young Muhammad Ali on a shelf across the room.
It’s Muhammad Ali all right, and it’s autographed too.
He really was pretty.
It was taken in January 1967 in the Wiess Commons–that’s a Wiess tie that the champ is wearing–when Ali was in town training for his February 6th fight with Ernie Terrell. That April he would refuse induction into the U.S. Army (also in Houston) and wouldn’t fight again for over three years. Here’s the Thresher story about his visit:
Bonus: Now what?